They Placed Me In A Vessel

Acrylic On Canvas Painting By : 

Yasmeen Abdallah -

They placed me in a vessel

Then said to me: "Adapt!"

But I am not water—

I am made of heaven's clay

And when my vessel grows too narrow for my growth,

...it shatters!

**

They gave me a choice

Between death and survival

Between dancing above the rope

Or dancing beneath the rope.

So I chose survival—

I said: "Execute.

Strangle the parrot's voice with the rope

And grant me an eternal silence that speaks!"

Ahmed Mattar